By TESSA JAMANDRE
WHILE many blame climate change as the cause of strange weather conditions that are adversely affecting agriculture, the Hanunuo Mangyans in Occidental Mindoro attribute it to the desecration of their burial grounds by Japanese looking for skeletal remains of countrymen who perished during World War II.
Last year the Hanunuo Mangyans suffered a long drought that dried their farms. Their farm animals were also afflicted by a disease caused by pests.
Aniw Lubag, president of the Pinagkausahan Hanunuo sa Daga Ginurang (PHADAG), the collective Hanunuo Mangyan tribe in the towns of Mansalay and Bulalacao, said it’s the “curse” of their ancestors whose bones were stolen from their burial caves.
Although the rains have come in recent weeks, Lubag said they believe the worst is not over until the desecration of their burial grounds is stopped and certain rituals are performed to honor their dead.
Another Hanunuo elder, Tulay Caring, said their ancestors were angered by the activities of the Japanese belonging to Kuentai, a nonprofit organization in Japan designated by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to collect information and actual skeletal remains of Japanese soldiers who died in the Philippines during the WWII.
Kuentai was able to obtain an authority to excavate in Mindoro through the Japanese Embassy from the National Museum of the Philippines. The authority required representatives of the National Museum to accompany the Japanese mission and to be physically present for the duration of the recovery mission to ensure that no archaeological and cultural artifacts, immovable or movable are placed at risk or destroyed.
The Hanunuo has a unique tradition of burying their dead twice. One year after the dead is buried, the relatives exhume the remains, perform a ritual and determine if the dead would want a second burial. The ritual for the first burial is elaborate and costly. In the second burial, they dress the bones of their dead with their traditional clothing and place them, usually side by side with the other members of the family already laid in a burial cave. A burial cave is supposed to be secret and sacred, believed to be the final resting place of a Hanunoo Mangyan.
The unique Hanunuo tradition has attracted bone collectors.
Lubag said,“Ang nasabing sagradong lugar ay isa sa pinakamahalagang batayan ng aming lupaing ninuno at saligan ng aming kultura at kakayahan bilang tribung Hanunuo…ang pagkawala ng mga buto sa mga sagradong yungib o kweba ay isang pagyurak at pagsira ng aming kultura at ng aming katutubong paniniwala na kung saan ay ditto nakaugat ang buhay naming tribung Hanunuo (Our sacred ground is a very important marker for our ancestral domain and a foundation of our culture and tradition as a people. The loss of the bones in our burial caves is a desecration and destruction of our culture and indigenous beliefs where our lives as Hanunuo tribe are founded).”
There are several Mangyan tribes, an ethnic group living in the areas within the municipalities of Bulalacao and Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro and San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. The Mangyan population is estimated to be 100,000 in Mindoro, the seventh largest island in the country. The other Mangyan tribes are Alangan, Tau-Buid, Buhid, Bangon, Tadyawan, Iraya and Ratagnon. Each tribe has its own tribal name, language and set of customs.
Of all the Mangyan tribes, the Hanunuo, which means “”truly, real, genuine” has the most documented culture, especially their literature.
The pre-Spanish writing system of two distinct open syllables is still in practical use among the Hanunuo. Written down most frequently on bamboo tubes or slats, is the “ambahan,” a literary product but not poetry to liberally express in an allegorical way certain situations or certain characteristics. It is known and recited by Hanunoo-Mangyans both young and old to serve practical purposes within the community. It is used by the parents in educating their children, by young people in courtship, to extend hospitality and for traveling.
Last Dec. 15, President Benigno Aquino III awarded about 18,616 hectares of provincial land to some 824 members of the Hanunuo, Gubatnon and Ratagnon (HAGURA) tribes in Magsaysay and San Jose towns in Occidental Mindoro. In distributing the Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADT) to the Mangyan tribe, he expressed the hope that they will continue to strengthen the rich cultural heritage of their forefathers.
“For as long as you follow the right path, we shall make sure that your land is ably protected, as well as your indigenous culture,” the President had said.
Last November, before he left for the Leaders summit of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Yokohama, Japan, Aquino ordered the probe on Hanunuo’s complaints.
Under the Indigenous People’s Rights Act, burial caves are among those included in an ancestral domain.
Lubag said they have also relayed the desecration of their burial caves and their appeal that it be stopped to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, which has jurisdiction over complaints of violations of Free Prior and Informed Consent of the indigenous people as well as unlawful intrusion to ancestral domain.